William tops list of year's most popular Nova Scotia baby names

Classic baby names remain some of the top choices for new Nova Scotia parents.

Of the 7,930 registered births in Nova Scotia in 2018, William remained the most popular boy’s name for the third year in a row, while Olivia was the most popular name for girls.

According to the site NameBerry.com, William is of English origin meaning “resolute protection.” Olivia originates from Latin and means “olive tree.”

Other popular boys names this year included Benjamin, Hunter, Lincoln, Jack, Noah and Oliver.

For parents of girls, Sophia, Charlotte, Emma, Amelia, Ava and Isla were the top picks.

Nova Scotia’s Registry of Vital Statistics says the most popular names usually remain fairly consistent over the years, however, there are a few new names gaining popularity such as Isla and Addison with some old favourites coming back like John and Henry.

Nova Scotia began formally registering births on Aug. 1, 1864. The most popular names that year were Mary and John.

A list of the top 20 names for each gender, with the number of 2018 babies registered under those names, is as follows: